Pleasant living environment

Nature's sights and many opportunities for spending free time don't leave any resident or wandering city visitor indifferent.

Nature's sights

Maribor city park with three lakes

The city park is one of the most important greener parts of Maribor, which encompass more than 5 hectares, all from the wooded hills of Kalvarija to Piramida hills. It's a popular walking spot where city residents of all ages meet, as well as a place very inviting to all visitors of the city of Maribor. You can walk among numerous trees that are more than 140 years old. Since 1976, the park has been protected as a monument of designed nature. The path leading between varied trees, arranged flower plantations, Rožna hill and fountains will calm you down and relax you. You can sit on the benches by the beautiful lakes where water birds swim, or you can rest underneath giant trees. The park also has an aquarium-terrarium and a nice children's playground that's the daily target destination of many families. The park is also the venue of many cultural events, where you can listen to various concerts in the concert Pavilion.

Maribor Island

Maribor Island is a natural island on the Drava river that had been protected as a natural sight up to 1951 and received the natural monument status in 1992. In summertime, Maribor Island's swimming pool opens its doors and is a popular recreational spot.

Tourism, sport and recreation

Maribor is known as a city of athletes and enthusiasts of taking an active break. It's the city of important international sports events. The name of the city was carried out into the world by Golden Fox, the ski world cup for women that Maribor has been hosting for nearly fifty years. Maribor is also the host of big international football games of the home football club as well as those of the Slovenian team. Tennis, swimming, shooting, hockey, volleyball, rowing, athletics, all those are sports that see excellent conditions for developing and hosting international competitions in Maribor. Maribor is also the host of many preparations of highest level athletes.

Maribor Pohorje

Pohorje, 1543 m high, a wonderful natural oasis, mostly charming due to its many untouched natural and cultural sights. It's an excellent destination that isn’t only full of beautiful natural gems – virgin forest, marshes, lakes, falls and creeks – but also offers a chance for a sporty escape far away from inhabited paths. Pohorje is also a popular touristic centre. In the winter, it attracts skiers with more than 41.5 km of designed ski runs and 27 km of running tracks. In the summer, it's paradise for mountain biking enthusiasts, also offering biking grounds and downhill paths for adrenaline athletes. You can visit the adrenaline park as well and try out the high ropes course, giant swing or summer sledding pohor-JET with sharp turns. You can also get into the valley on a special scooter, the Monster Roller. Golf lovers have a golf course nearby.

Wellness and thermal water

Hotel Habakuk and Fontana spas use thermal water that flows in from the depth of 800 to 900 metres, where its temperature is 69 degrees. The temperature at the hole where water flows out is between 41.5 and 43 degrees, and it's between 33 and 37 degrees Celsius in the pools.

Football Club Maribor

NK Maribor is the most successful football club in Slovenia – the record holder of the national champion title; since 1991, it won the title twelve times. Many people from Maribor are avid supporters of the club.

Culture

Maribor is culturally well-developed considering its geographic size. Amongst its most important cultural institutions, we can list the Slovenian national theatre, Maribor castle with the Regional museum, offering selected parts of archaeological, ethnological and cultural history from the Maribor region and its vicinity, Art gallery Maribor, the Museum of national liberation Maribor and Regional archive Maribor, which stores 16 running kilometres of archival material. Incredible cultural energy and events have helped Maribor obtain the title of the European capital of culture in 2012.

Maribor is a city of many well-visited festivals taking place all throughout the year. The most important is the multi-cultural Lent festival that colours the city in the rhythms of the entire world. We also have to mention the Old Grapevine Festival, Colourful December, DokMa, Etnika and other traditional events such as the Rafter baptism, new year celebration and the feast of St. Martin celebrated out in the open.

Lent Festival

The Lent Festival is the biggest international festival in Slovenia and one of the largest in Europe, attracting more than half a million visitors every year. It has concerts of diverse music genres, various shows, creative workshops for kids, sports events, stand-ups and individual festivals (Folklore festival Folkart, JazzLent festival, the Ana Desetnica street theatre festival and the Sladolent street food festival).

Old Grapevine Festival

The Old Grapevine Festival is the culinary, wine and cultural festival in Maribor, prepared in the honour of the Old Grapevine, the oldest grapevine in the world that's more than 400 years old. The festival offers a varied programme of wine-tasting, traditional chore demonstrations, musical accompaniments, and biking and walking tours across the hills around the Styrian capital.